Turf planter



Nov. 3, 1931. F. GROSS! TURF PLANTER Filed Sept. 22. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTQ'R w 1 ATTORNEY;

Nov. 3, 1931.

F. GROSSI 1,8 9,745

TURF ELANTER Filed Sept. 22, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR BY 1 WM; Elm 91am 524K0 4 ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 3, 1931 F-B'AN'x: GROSSI,"OF.MAMARON.ECK, NEW YORK .runr PLANTER Application filed. Septeniber.22, .1930. 'seriai No. 433,555. I

:This' invention relates to apparatus for use inv seeding'and fertilizing turf; and more particularly 1 concerns an-improved unitary device for rapidly planting seed and depos itingfertilizingg material on a sodded area. Sodded areas, such as lawns, golf courses and like tracts, require considerable care and quality and'texturethereof. is highly impor-r attention if the grassis to be kept in a, healthy condition: I This is particularly ,true of the grass on the greens of golf courses, where'the turf must be ;cut'very short and the uniform tant. During dry periods, the closely cut grass dries up quickly and 5 even, with daily sprinkling, some of the;grass dies and renders the green unfitfor' use;- Further, frequent watering of the grass joften'resu1ts, in too much moisture near the surface of the sod and an [uneven surface soon'results'.

" Heretofore,when thegraes on golf coursesdies,"or becomesunfit for use,itha's been the practice to plow up the green, relevel it and reseed. it; This procedure usually requires the servicesjof twelve men for a week and in radditiontothi's iexpense, the reseeded' greens. cannot be used "again for several monthsand "is usually out of service remainder of the seasonfi With the above noted'problems in mind, it is an object of "theprese'nt invention toproduce' an; efficient devicefor "reseeding, fertiliz ing, levelling and generally revitalizing the grass .of golf greens, lawns or other grass-covered areas. It'is' a further object oftheinvention to provide a unitary device for carryin'g the above objects into effect with aiminimum jof labor-and expense and without"interrupting-the use of'the grass covered areas forany appreciable period.

In general, the objects of my invention are carried outrby providinga grass treating machine'which. successivelycuts a plurality of slits the'grass coveredsurface, deposits a;

niiiiture ofgrassseedand fertilizer in the slits and on'the surface,-closes the'cuts in the surface and levels, the "surface by; rolling.

' The cuts for slitsin'thesodded surface are preferablyfformed byi-a; plurality ofispaced parallel knife blades'wlii'ch'are pressed into the sods by; .sprin'gsf or equivalent means;

for the theseblades bein ca'rriedby a vehicle which is further provi' ed with a storage bin for carrying the grass seed and fertilizer. :Means are provided forfeeding'the grass seed and fertilizer to the cut surface of the sod, and the rate-at ,which this material is fed is preferably controlled in accordance with the progress ofth'e'vehicle over the'tract. To the rear of the seed and fertilizer feeding means, a dragging and agitating device isprovided' no toclose the slits in the sod and'generally'agitate an level the surface'thereof, and a roller is preferably provided behind the drag to finally level' and pack down the seeded ,surface. The roller'may'be carried by an artic- 66 ulated trailer at the rear to the'seeded vehicle. The vehicle is preferably provided with steering means and it is preferred to employ means bywhich the pressure exerted on the cutting-blades may be adjusted. Adjustable 70 i'n'eansare alsopreferablyprovided forcontrolling" the rate'at-which the grass seed and fertilizer are deposited.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings inwhich a preferred embodiment thereofis illustrated. In the drawings;

*Figu're l'is' aperspective View of a device incorporating the {present invention Fig. 2 isa sectional side view of the device shown in 'Fig. 1; r

gigg 3 is a bottom plan view of'the device; an v T Fig. 4 isan enlarged sectional view of'the seed andfertilizer feeding mechanism'ofthe device.

Referring to the drawings, thedisclosed embodiment of my invention includes a three wheeled vehicle, the body portion of'which comprises a storage bin 1. The single front wheel 2 of the'vehicle'is pivotally connected thereto in any suitable manner, and as shown,

the fork 3 carrying the wheel 2'is fixedto a toythetforkfi and the vehiclemay bef promo I P611601 by m aryaaaasml hitched 'Asshown in*Fig. 2,Nthestoragebinj1 of the vehicle is'providedwith aidow'n'wardly converging portion '8 haVing a-transversely extendingoutlet ordischargeslotfi -at its lower apexgr f The rear axle of-thevehlcle is journaled" in suitable brackets ll' fix ed to this slotibut' olearthe sides thereof sufficiently discharge slot 9 "feed the seedandf iertile proportional to the rate of, progressof the yehicley The lower end of the-idischarge slot .anadjustablejgate in the 'formfof a plate ilslidably supported on'the guidesilt')andsoooperating with an opposed fixed-lplategle. if. One orinore. spaced ust- 7 ingscrewsf17fl or other suitable ineans are 'Kf employed gfor;v yariablyadj usting the position of; thegmovable plate 1 lerelatiye to the'fixeld v plate {1 6 and thereby"regulating thesize of L the opening through which the grass seed and 'fiert'ilizer ti's v:, fedkfromthe bin 1 illhitransversely extendingv knife carrying beain 17 is piyotally supported beneath the vehicle body just behindethe' front wheel 2;.

1 As shown in Figs. 2 and 35 a strap 1,8v is gpiererably passed around the bar-17 near each preferably formed pfswoodfand-a plurality v Y wardly toward their rearward trailing ends; as gshown in; Fig. 2.; The. knifeblades are *z-preferably proyided with very fkeenicutting edges andare gradually tapered'towardthee edges so that the slitsformed by these-blades are'ofappreciablewidth at'thesurfacefof the l end thereof and the straps are respectively piyotally secured to, the transverse: bolts 19 fixed to the vehicle, bodyf 'The bar-,1? is of spaced parallel knife, blades .20 are 'fixed I in openingsin the bar; The knifeblades are vertically disposed with their s'harp'edges downward'. and are preferably cmzed downsod Although various forms-ofblades may gemployed ithas beenfOu-ndthat scythe blades are particularly suited'forxthis 'purjpos'e i a Asvex'plamed above, means are preferably e as ' -V provided for resiliently pressing: the knife bladesQQintO th'e turf. In the disclosed embodimenuithe means so employed co'niiprise two sets v of coiled springs 21, conipressed'betweenfaleyer 22 and a ;transversefbeamf23[ bean 23 extends across all of the: knife land transmits pressureliromrthe springs 21 blades-through a ineinber 26' which bears satay against thej'iipper iedges of the blades; The beam 23 isxclamped to the member 26 and to the blades 20by a plurality of bolts'Q l which-pass through the Y '25'engaging the lower edges of the blades. 1

beam 23, the member- 26 and atransverse bar The member 26 rests on the' upper edges of the; blades. 20 and extends to the'fpivoted bearn 1'7 On each side of the Vehiolebody, a rearwardlylextendingi lever-22 is pivotally carried by the bolt'19. The levers22extend over theouter ends of the'lbeam 23, anda 'plurality oibolts 28, fixed at their lower ends of,

the beam-2am straps pass loosely through openings'near the fends ofthe leversi22. :The

coiledlspring's 21 are carried by thebolts'r28q betweenlthelevers 22land the straps 29, and. thus when the fleizers i 22 I are- 'depres'sedfthe; springs 21,exerta downwardfipressurel on thebearn23 and the blades. 20fisecuredlthereto. The upper ends of thelbolts 28 are provided with nuts 30} so thatthe blades 20 111 15" 7 be liftedf'elear of the ground the leyers. 7

ete raisedy Each v a erse isifi xed ex tending operating handle- 31', these 'han d les" being piyoted on" the bolts 19'. HA'n outward;

extending :bracket 32 having ,ag i plurality'ofi V notches therein is fixedto'each side of the vehicle body in the path of travel of each of the handles 31 Whenigtheh andles 131 I are.

.moredinto one of the rearward notches in,

the'brackets 32i as showninliigsf 1 and2f, the

levers 22fare1 depressed, springs. 21 com-Y pressedand the ends oiithe' blades 2Qfjarer'esiliently' forced into the ground; The amount of pressure exerted on'ithe blades 20rmay'be altered by 'niovingithe handles 31 todifferent notcheslin the brackets 32;} When*it is desired to move theyehicle'with the blades out of contactwiththeiground, thehan'dles 31 are moved in theforemost notches in the brackets 32, and .thellever's 22, acting though the "bolts 28 Z the nuts 30Ilift the beam 23 and the blades 20 clear of the ground, When in the:depressedposition, the trailing ends of the blades 20fcut into, the turf as a point just ingadvance 'of'the storage A roller. 4

s seas sla 9 jfi e s ear a1 was to the rear of the seedingslot 9,-fand inthe disclosed embodiment, this roller is ,j ournaled between 7 bearing brackets 35 depending from a trailing platform ild Theplatform36 is preferably hingedlyioonnected to the rear, end of the storage bin 1 of the lvehicle by. suitable means such as links 37-. QThe platform 36 may be weighted sandbaggor an operator may v ride thereon in the seat ltoqmaintain the proper pressure'fon theirollerfill.

' 1A fl x e n d 1-39 p m y dis"! I posed; transversely-across the machine 51023.

neath'the platform"36toclosertheislits.out in] Q thesod by-the delrice an jwgenerali agitate the surfaceioffhe traot fand distribute the seed and fertilizer thereover. As shown, the

drag 39 may be supported by its forward and rearward ends by: the links and chains 40 and 41, respectively attached to the vehicle body and to the trailing platform 36.

In operation, theiknife blades are set to penetrate the turf by means of the handles 31,

i the bin 1 is filled with a suitable mixture of grass seed and fertilizer, the platform 36 is Weighted by sand bags or'by an attendant and the machine is drawn across the golf green or other grass-covered: tract to be treated. 'Anioperator seated onthe transverse latform 42 steers the vehicle by means 0 the handle bars 6. The discharge openingof the bin 1 is adjusted to feed the required amount of seed and fertilizer by means of the screws 7 17 As the device passes over. the tract unseed and fertilizer mixture is deposited varies Yder treatment, the blades 20 cut a plurality of parallel slits inthe sod and the seed and fertilizer mixture-is dropped into these slits and on to the surfaceof thesod therebetween. Tjhe'link' drag 39then agitates the sod surface, distributingthe seed and fertilizer and at least partially closing the slits. The roller 34 completes the treatment by pressing the sod to a level and even surface and completely closing the slits cut by the blades 20. Due to the use of the feedin paddles 12 propelled by the rear axle 10,'t e "rate at which the in accordancejrwith the rate of movement of the vehicle. Accordingly, the amount of seed and fertilizerdeposited on a given portion of the tract, is fixed by the adjustment of the a plate lzl'and is substantially independent of the rate of movement ofthe vehicle. V Although I prefer to employ" knife blades of the type described for cutting the turf, the invention, in its broader aspects, is not {limited tothis particular form of turf penetrating means; -,After,treatment by the device, d'ead or partly dead grass'may be restored to ahealthy state in about a week.

New grass grows, not only along the slits.

cut the surface, butthe agitating treatment revitalizes the intervening strips of grass as well as an even thick turf is accordingly produced. v

I claim: V

1-. In a turf treating device of the character described, in combination, a vehicle including a container, means mounted beneath said container for cutting a plurality ofslits in the turf over which said vehicle is drawn, a dischargeslot in said container disposed adjacent said cutting means and extending transversely across'the vehicle, means for adjustably varying the opening offsaid slot, a vehicle axleextending through said slot,

. vehicle wheels fixedto said axle and feeding vmeans on said axle within said slot'for con- Y trolling the rate of discharge of material fromsaid containerin accordance with the rate ofprogress ofsaidvehicleg 2. In a turftreatin "d'evice of the character described, in com ination, a vehicle, a transversely extendin beam pivotally supported beneath the vehicle adjacent the f0r'- ward end thereof,-a plurality of spaced knife blades fixed to said beam and extending rearwardly of the vehicle from saidbe'am with their cutting edges disposed downwardly,

resilient means for applying a downward pressure, to said knife blades whereby the rearward ends of said blades are pressed into the turf beneath the vehicle, a storage bin on said vehicle having an outlet opening adjacent the rearward ends of said knife blades, and means for depositing material from said storage bin through. said opening to the cut turf adjacent the rearward ends of said blades in accordance with the rate of'progress of the vehicle.

3. Ina turf treating device of the character described, in combination, a vehicle including a container, a transversely extending pivotally supported beam beneath the vehicle adjacent the forward end thereof, a plurality of spaced parallel knife blades fixed to said rearwardly of the ver beam and extendin hicle from said eam with their cutting edges disposed downwardly, resilient means for applying a downward pressure to said knife blades whereby the rearward ends of said blades are pressed into the turfbeneath the vehicle, means for variably adjusting the pressure applied to the blades by said resilient means, means for discharging material from said container to the-turf adjacent the rearward ends of said knife blades at a rate controlled in accordance with the rate of progress of said vehicle, and means for variably adjusting'the rate of flowof said material.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

' FRANK GROSSI. 

